1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input processing method for a touch input device for processing touch input operations by touching against a screen, an input processing device for implementing same, and an information processing apparatus provided with same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some information processing apparatuses, such as personal computers (including notebook-type personal computers,) a touch input device, such as a tablet, digitizer, or the like, is used as an input device in place of a mouse. In general, a tablet or digitizer is located above or below a monitor screen, such as a CRT, liquid-crystal display, or the like, and it senses the position at which a pointing device, such as a pen, or the like, makes touching with the screen. If these elements are integrated with the screen, then the device is called a touch panel or touch screen.
More specifically, a pressure-sensitive tablet is a resistance film made from a transparent electrode, which is affixed to the surface of the monitor screen. The position of touching of the pen is detected by measuring the electric potential created by the touching of the pen dividing the resistance of the film. Moreover, an electromagnetic induction tablet is located below the screen, and it detects the position of touching of the pen by detecting the magnetism generated by the pen tip. As a method for detecting the point of touching, in addition to a pressure-sensitive tablet or electromagnetic induction tablet, a variety of other methods have been achieved, for instance, a method which utilizes ultrasonic waves, such as an ultrasonic surface elastic wave touch panel, or the like.
Conventionally, processing corresponding to a left click on a mouse, such as indicating the position of a pointer (or cursor) on the screen, selecting menus by operating icons, starting up software, or the like, is assigned to input operations using these touch input devices. On the other, in recent years, various devices for processing input operations corresponding to processing other than a left click have been proposed.
For example, the map display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. (Hei) 5-241506 has a function for changing the scale of a map displayed on a screen, according to the time period for which a touch panel is pressed. Moreover, the input device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. (Hei) 11-53115 has a function for moving a cursor on a screen by means of a touch input operation. Specifically, the device switches between a method whereby movement commands are input by moving an input pen, or the like, while pressing it against a touch panel, thereby causing a cursor to move relatively with respect to movement of the pen, and a method whereby movement commands are input by pressing the pen against a desired position on the touch panel for a desired period of time, thereby causing a cursor to move in the direction of the position where the panel is pressed, at a speed corresponding to the distance from the cursor to the desired position, selectively, according to the period of time for which the pen is pressed against the panel. Moreover, the data input device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. (Hei) 11-45141 comprises a function for identifying input operations when a touch panel is pressed for a prescribed period of time or more, in order to prevent incorrect input operations.
When a touch input is used in place of a mouse-based input, preferably, processing corresponding to the right click of a mouse should be assigned to the touch input operation. Moreover, in recent years, mouse devices provided with a middle switch or wheel between left switch (for left click operation) and right switch (for right click operation) have become common. Therefore, preferably, processing corresponding to click operations of the middle switch or wheel (hereinafter, called a middle click) are assigned also. In particular, since scroll processing is often assigned to the middle click operation (including rotation of the wheel), preferably, scroll processing should also be realized by means of a touch input operation.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an input processing method for carrying out processing corresponding to a plurality of mouse input operations by means of touch input operations, an input processing device for implementing same, and an information processing apparatus provided with same.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, in the present invention, a plurality of mouse input operations are switched according to the touching time period against a touch panel. Therefore, it is possible to carry out processing corresponding to a plurality of mouse input operations, selectively, by means of a single input operation, namely, a touch input operation, thereby improving the ease of operation.
Furthermore, in the present invention, the direction of scrolling of a screen can be switched according to the touching time period against a touch panel. Consequently, it is possible to perform upward scrolling and downward scrolling, selectively, for example, by means of a single input operation, namely, a touch input operation, thereby improving the ease of operation.
Preferably, the first input processing method according to the present invention is an input processing method for processing touch input operations to a screen, comprising a detecting step for detecting a touching time period against the screen, and a selecting step for selecting one of a plurality of processes corresponding to mouse input operations according to the detected touching time period. The plurality of processes corresponding to the mouse input operations includes, for example, a process corresponding to a left click and a process corresponding to a right click in the aforementioned mouse input operations. Moreover, a process corresponding to a middle click may also be included.
Furthermore, preferably, the second input processing method according to the present invention is an input processing method for processing touch input operations to a screen, comprising a step for detecting a touching time period against a screen, and a selecting step for selecting either a scrolling process in a first direction or a scrolling process in a second direction on the screen according to the detected touching time period. For example, the aforementioned first and second directions are, respectively, an upward direction and downward direction.
Moreover, preferably, the third input processing method according to the present invention is an input processing method for processing touch input operations to a screen, comprising a step for detecting a touching time period against the screen, and a selecting step for selecting either a process corresponding to one of mouse input operations or a screen scrolling process according to the detected touching time period.
For example, the selecting step in the aforementioned third input processing method selects the direction of scrolling on the screen according to the detected touching time period. Moreover, the process corresponding to one of mouse input operations is a process corresponding to a left click in the aforementioned mouse input operations. Furthermore, the aforementioned input processing method may also comprise a display step for changing an icon displayed on the screen, while the screen is being touched, each time that the process selected in accordance with the touching time period changes.
Moreover, according to the present invention, an input processing device for implementing the aforementioned input processing method, an information processing apparatus provided with same, and a storage medium for storing programs for implementing the aforementioned input processing method, are provided.